Even though they were still about 400 kilometers away, the trio could barely spot the settlement on the horizon, which got them quite excited.
Darius directly used Group Teleportation to carry them the rest of the way to their destination. With all his passives and equipment boosts, his actual limit was far more than just that 360 km.
They arrived to at the entrance of a large village of sorts, with thick palisade walls and rapports surrounding it. The group quickly noticed that there were bloodstains and some wear and tear on those walls, a clear sign that despite the settlement being surrounded by almost endless grassland and small forests on all sides, there had been quite a few beast attacks in their absence.
The question was why? Darius had expected his robotic troops to easily be able to handle the natural inhabitants of the former jungle-turned-settlement.
Had the dungeon been attracting more and stronger beasts and monsters here?
Well, he couldn't blame it. The human population had yet to arrive and it would naturally want to grow after being healed, so it could have only resorted to such a method. Fortunately, with Darius here now, soon there would no longer be a need for it to do so.
They walked through the gates of the settlement and saw that they were neatly arranged rows of buildings built in a linear fashion, emphasizing roads and alleyways between them.
With a single glance, Darius confirmed that it had followed his basic layout proposal, leading to the construction of a manor to the north, 10 large cottages, 50 longhouses, 3 shacks, a warehouse, 2 hospitals, and a tower.
The manor would be the residence for himself, his Branded Servants, and Deia in the future. The large cottages were for notable subordinates like Shanks, Jorge, Derek, etc. The 50 longhouses were where the inner faction members and the settlers from Shanks' homestead would stay.
The 3 shacks would become a food stall, a general store, and a bar in the near future. The warehouse was where important materials would be stored for use and both hospitals were meant for their people.
The idea was to make one of them exclusive to important members like Portia, Shanks, Jorge, etc, with the other one being for the rest of the settlers.
As for the tower, it was obviously Darius' private mage tower where he would train his Official Apprentices as well as perform his Magical Experiments and whatnot.
Darius nodded with satisfaction, while Gunner folded his arms with contentment. As for Xela, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry from their reactions.
"Erm, Master, this all-wood settlement isn't going to stay like this… right?" Xela asked worriedly. It was easy to see her concerns from her tone.
Darius laughed in a friendly manner. "Of course not, Xela. I've only asked the workers to set it up this way for two purposes, to form a basic layout and to cover my bases."
Darius raised a finger. "I had originally expected to spend much more time in Elysium to swallow up information, but Miranda's prowess has made that unnecessary, and seeing Deia also in Faust has changed everything."
"Initially, I expected Foldo and the settler from Shanks' place to have long since arrived by the time we ourselves came back, which was why I've dumped 90% of the resources with them. That way, they could have started building up the rest of the city according to the plans I left."
Darius opened his arms in a helpless gesture. "But, where would they have slept in the meantime? In tents under the stars? Even if the robot workers worked their fastest, it would take at least a few weeks to get some suitable lodging for them."
Xela and Gunner shared a look then nodded. It made sense, this makeshift settlement was basically just temporary and would be swapped out with the official one in time.
"So does this mean we'll stay here until that Foldo fellow brings the materials?" Xela asked curiously.
It was only natural that Xela disliked Foldo for capturing her as a slave, yet Darius did not correct her way of addressing him. Instead, he chuckled softly.
"Why should we? Gunner and I have our Inventories chock full with 10% of the same materials we've handed Foldo. After carrying it for so long, we're frankly tired of having to calculate the space we can use, so this is a good chance to dump it."
Darius tapped his lip. "We'll have the robot workers clear out everything and use what resources we have to establish the core section of the city. The resources from Foldo's end should be enough for the inner and outer sections later on."
Darius practically saw question marks appear over the heads of Xela and Gunner, so he folded his arms behind his back and explained.
"I plan to segregate future dwellers by status and importance. The core area will be exclusive for crucial people like us, my selected apprentices, those who have signed a Soul Paper agreement, and other very important fellows. It will be small, but at the same time contain all the necessary facilities we require to allow us to remain cut off from the outside by the sturdiest magical wall possible."
"The inner section will be the place where official citizens will reside, as well as nobles and those from our faction that are loyal, but not fully trusted. This is also where I will establish my mage academy for promising youngsters among our citizens. This segment will be larger and pretty much like any typical town you've seen. If you ever feel bored of the core area, you're always free to head out to play there."
"As for the outer section, you could say it will basically be the 'reception area' of our budding city. It will be the largest band, consisting of about 50% of the resources and space, while the inner section would be 45% and the core section 5%. It will also be separated from the inner section by another wall, preventing visitors or tourists from going in further."
"The outer section is where all our auction houses, shops and various services meant to turn our settlement into a money-making machine will be built. The pricing will be obnoxiously high, but the quality will also be far beyond anything known to Faust!"
